BATON ROUGE- People who want to legalize marijuana made their pitch to state lawmakers Tuesday.

They told a special panel discussing the possibility of legalization, marijuana could generate tax dollars, provide a new agricultural crop, shrink the jail population and lessen pain for people with medical issues.

But, health and law enforcement officials fired back. Their opposition includes statistics that suggest marijuana as a "gateway drug" to more toxic substance and said users have increased risk of health conditions.

The testimony Tuesday was part of a study by the House criminal justice committee, upon the request of Rep. Dalton Honore, a Democrat from Baton Rouge.

No legislation has been proposed to legalize marijuana in Louisiana, and the idea is a long-shot at best.

A bill to lessen penalties for marijuana possession has been filed for consideration this year. A similar measure failed to win passage last year.***********Follow the publisher of this post on Twitter: @treyschmaltz